


Not Today

by Petra1999



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angel Castiel, Angst, Blood, Blood and Injury, Death, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Injury, M/M, Major Character Injury, Wordcount: 1.000-3.000, Wordcount: 1.000-5.000, Wordcount: 100-2.000, Wordcount: Over 1.000
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-04
Updated: 2016-01-04
Packaged: 2018-05-11 18:14:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5636953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Petra1999/pseuds/Petra1999
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"No!" Dean scratched the corner of his mouth nervously with his thumb. "I've lost you-" He paused. "-so many times. And I'm not going to lose you again." His voice was clean and loud, and his tone allowed no 'but's. "I'm not going to." He shook his head in disbelief. "So shut your goddamn mouth, alright?"<br/>"Dean..."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Not Today

Dean Winchester was driving in no specific direction, fingers nervously drumming on the steering wheel, his phone messily thrown onto the empty seat next to him. His brother has had lost his mind, and they had a fight again. They both rushed off into different directions, and now both waited for the other one to say that he had been wrong. It was almost comical how often that happened to the two of them, but they were brothers after all.

After a while of driving on rumbly streets in-between forests, the only light being the almost full moon and his headlights, Dean stopped because he had to piss. When he was finished, he went back to his car and picked up two bottles of beer that had been - so it seemed to Dean - waiting to be drunk. On a normal day he would have given one of them to Sam, and they would have stood next to the Impala till they had finished, but on this day Dean stepped a bit into the forest to enjoy the cool drink alone. Not too far into the forest he found a tree trunk which was very inviting to sit on. Staring into the darker parts of the woods, Dean searched for his pistol in his jacket. Comforted by the familiar feeling of it against his chest he took the bottle cap between his teeth and popped it off; The other bottle was leaning against his ankle on the ground. Not long after it was picked up too, and Dean had emptied two thirds of it when he heard a noise behind him. Quickly, Dean turned around just to see a shabby and weak looking Cas in the middle of the trees.

"Dean..." The angel coughed out, then his legs failed beneath him. Dean wasted no time and rushed to him, letting the bottle smash on the ground, and somehow uncomfortably caught Castiel mid-fall. The unexpected weight pushed him onto the ground, and he kneeled into the cool grass. The angel's upper body leaned heavily against his own, and Dean used his arms to support the weak angel.

"Cas, god dammit, what happened?"

The angel shuffled in the hunter's grip a bit, and then his husky voice emerged from in-between the folds of Dean's jacket.

"Crowley..." - Dean rolled his eyes - "... He lured me to him, I thought you and Sam were in danger." His words were interrupted by a short coughing fit. "He told me that he finally had to get rid of me."

"What happened? Did he fight against you? You're hurt, Cas!" Dean pushed the angel a few inches away from him to search for any wounds on the body, but couldn't really fight any till Cas fell back onto him.

"He wanted to... But he didn't. Dean, I don't know why, but Crowley didn't fight against me." Cas was obviously exhausted by talking, he breathed very fast. "I got out of there as quickly as I could... But I used a lot of power... I need to rest."

Dean grabbed his friend tightly. "Bullshit," he whispered. "You're not tired, you're... you're-" Dean swallowed. He knew how weak the angel was in that moment, he could feel it - The usual energy that radiated around him was almost gone. He put his head's side to Cas' and felt the cold skin on his own.

"Dying." Cas finished the sentence. "But I'm not, Dean, I'm just tired." His voice trailed off, as if he was walking into the distance.

"Cas, Cas!" Dean shook the angel's body a bit and then pushed Castiel's chest up to look him into the face. His eyes were partly closed, his mouth hung open. "Cas, come on now. Open your eyes."

The angel did, and his crystal blue eyes stared unfocused somewhere between Dean's eyes.

"Tell me what happened, Cas." His friend didn't reply. "Cas, I beg you."

"Crowley put me under a spell, I think." The angel's eyes fell shut again. "I didn't know. When I left, it took all of my power to arrive here. I didn't know." Cas repeated. "I wouldn't have tried to-" The angel's body shook from coughing once more. Dean noticed blood dripping out of Castiel's mouth, and tried to fight against the everlasting panic that was rising inside him. Once more he wrapped his arms around the angel to support him.

"There's something - anything - I could do, Cas. A short nap won't do the thing, and you know it." Dean wasn't sure whether Cas' silence was due to his weakness or because he agreed with what Dean had said, but he hoped for the latter. "Cas!" He urged him to answer.

"There's... one thing." Castiel's voice was almost inaudible now, and incredibly sore. "There's a ritual. Draw a sigil with my blood, say the words-"

"What are the words?" Dean interrupted his friend.

"I... I don't have them memorised."

Dean tightened the grip around his friend, trying not to let out a few swearwords. Then he had an idea. "I'm going to call Sam, he can find out for sure. Everything's going to be fine."

The angel only grunted, seemingly not able to do much more.

"I'll need to lay you down, okay?" Dean slowly leaned Cas' body backwards onto the ground. "Okay, okay, okay..." He repeated, his heartbeat quickening when he saw Cas' eyes closed again, and a trail of blood down his chin. "There you go."

Once his friend's body touched the ground, Dean hectically searched for his phone in his jacket before remembering that he had left his phone in the car. It wasn't far away, but far enough to reassure Cas that he would be back in just a few seconds before rushing off into the direction of the car. He grabbed his phone from the seat and ran back to where the angel was lying on the ground. He knelt next to him, murmuring "I'm back. Everything's fine." Dean flicked his phone open and dialled Sam's number. While he was waiting, he touched Castiel's face softly. "Open your eyes. Come on, Cas." Cas did as told once again, but he seemed even weaker than before. At least the blood has stopped, Dean thought. In the same second someone picked up on the other line of the phone.

"What is it, Dean?" An obviously annoyed Sam snapped.

"Sam." Dean tried hard to catch his breath. "Cas, heshere, CrowlygothimsomehowIdontknowweneedyourhelpSam!"

"What?" His brother seemed to be aware that something was going on.

"Cas. Here. He's dying, Sam." Saying it out aloud drove hot tears into Dean's eyes. He shook his head as to say that he wasn't crying. "But there's a ritual. We need the words."

"I'm on my way! I'm only ten minutes away from the motel!" Sam exclaimed. There were noises in the background, then Sam shouting "Taxi!" over and over again. "In which book do I need to look? What is it called?" He was out of breath.

Dean put the phone next to Castiel's face. "Cas, tell Sam what it's called."

The angel needed a few moments to realise what was happening and then told Sam the name of the ritual. Once he had spoken, his body tensed up and he rolled onto his side and coughed blood onto the ground.

Dean took the phone back quickly. "Got it?" he asked.

"Yeah."

"Okay, call me when you've found it." Dean didn't even bother to end the call, he just let the phone drop to the ground and helped Cas to face the sky again. The angel's skin wasn't cold anymore, it was hot, almost burning, and sweat pearls were forming on his forehead.

Cas had closed his eyes again, but he opened his mouth to speak.

"Dean, in case I won't-"

"No!" Dean scratched the corner of his mouth nervously with his thumb. "I've lost you-" He paused. "-so many times. And I'm not going to lose you again." His voice was clean and loud, and his tone allowed no 'but's. "I'm not going to." He shook his head in disbelief. "So shut your goddamn mouth, alright?"

"Dean..." Cas' hand was searching for Dean's. The hunter took it without thinking about it twice, and he felt tears forming in his eyes.

"Don't you dare, you bastard. Not now, not now." Dean whispered, clutching onto the angel's hand. He stayed like this, sniffing the same things over and over, making sure Cas wouldn't stop moving. After minutes that felt like days, Dean's phone rang. With his free hand, he picked it up and answered.

"I've got it." Sam panted. "Take his blood, draw what I'm telling you on his chest!"

"Okay, okay, hold on!" Dean held the phone between shoulder and head and let go of Castiel's hand to unbotton his clothes, exposing the angel's bare chest. He gazed at Cas' face and saw him staring at him, but he didn't say anything. Carefully, Dean reached out his hand to get the blood off the angel's face and followed Sam's instruction to paint the symbol on Castiel's chest. When he was done, he repeated some words Sam told him over the phone. As he spoke the last word the sigil started to shine very brightly, blinding Dean. His phone fell to the ground. He could hear a moan come from Cas, and as the light subsided, he found the angel rolling on the ground in pain, eyes squeezed shut.

"CAS! Cas!" He seized the other's shoulders and tried to find out what was wrong. Suddenly, the angel opened his eyes, which were full of the well-known bright blue light. Cas gasped and screams, more light coming out of his mouth. Dean had to back away and hold his hands over his eyes. All at once, the noise and the light vanished. Dean could hear Sam's concerned voice over the phone asking what had happened, and risked opening his eyes.

There he was, sitting upright, wiping the blood off his face. Castiel was saved. Dean began to smile, even grin, then laugh.

"Ha!" he exclaimed. "Told you! Told you you're not gonna die! He's fine, Sam!" He shouted towards his phone, and got up to walk towards Cas and hug him tightly. Cas was still standing still, staring over Dean's shoulder. The hunter ended the hug and grinned into the angel's face. "See? Nothin' can stop us!" He grabbed the angel's neck and pressed his lips on Castiel's cheek, hoping that he won't regret it. Then he stared into Cas' eyes, holding his breath, waiting for a reaction.

"Dean." Cas said once again, his face expression-less, his eyes still focused something behind the man.

"Aren't you two lovebirds?" Crowley's voice remarked. "Sorry to interrupt, Dean, but you have something I want back."


End file.
